Electrode to be applied to the human body and process of making the same



E. LAs'r May 3,1921.

ELECTRODE T6 BE APILIED '10 THE HUMAN BODY AND PROGESS 0P MAKING THESAME Filed Dec. 18. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 3, 1927. LAST ELECTRODE'ro BE APPL; "i:b"'ro was uuwm BODY AND mocass or wane {run slum l FiledDec, 1a. 1925 s smwsnm z I E wnq LAST J VENT f1 ,1: LAST May a, 1927.

ELECTRODE TO BE APPUIED TO THE HUMAN BODY" AND PROCESS OF MAKING THESAME 3 Sheets-Shoe}, 3

Filed Dec. 1a. 1925 E wwA LAST V NVflNT b ELECTRODE TO BE APPLIED TO'THEHUMAN iaony 'SAMEw'.

Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITE sir-s ERWIN LAST, or VIENNA, AUSTRIA.

Application filed December 18,

y The application of electrodes to parts of the human body of irregularconfiguration,

more particularly the face, nose, the chin and so on meets withdifficulties because the rigid lead electrodes heretofore used cannot bemade to fit nicely the curvatures of the various parts of the face.Owing to the imperfect contacts injury to the skin could not be reliablyavoided, more particularly in the diathermic treatment wherecomparatively considerable currentv intensities are resorted to. It hasbeen attempted to avoid these drawbacks by using tin foil as thematerial for making the electrodes. While tin foil has the pliabilityrequired for nicely fitting the configuration of the various parts ofthe face, it is difficult to be brought into and held in. properpositions owing toits lack of mechanical strength, nor can it be usedoften, but the electrodes must be replaced by fresh ones after acomparativelyshort time.

The object of my invention is to provide an electrode which althoughconsisting of.

metal foil, which is very suitable for the present purpose, may be usedfor a comparatively long time, at least with one and the same patient.With this object in View my invention consists of an electricallynonrconductive carrier comprising a foreheadstrip, a nose strip and achin strip closely fitting the face and an electrically conductivelining on the side of such carrier next to the face and means forelectrically connecting such lining with a source of current.

In the' annexed drawing I have shown by Way of example, an electrode forthe dia thermic treatment of the human face which is the part of thehuman bodyrichestin irregular curvatures. Fig. 1 is a front elevation ofthe electrode. 2 is a section of the same on the line II II Fig; 1.Figs- 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 show the main parts of which the. carrier off theelectrode is composed. -Fig. 8 illustrates the way in which the mainparts of the electrode are connected with bands to prevent it fromshifting AND PROCESS OFMAKING THE iezaseriai No, 76,165, and in AustriaNovember 14, 192-5.

TENT ,SFFICE. I

next to the face the carrier is provided. with e a lining 3 made ofmetal foil such as tin foil. The lining 3 is somewhat greater than thesurface of the carrier to be lined; The parts of the lining projectingbeyond the carrier are folded round the edge of the carrier onto theside of the latter remotestfrom the face of thepatient andzare securedthere to the carrier by any suitable means say by stick-1ng-plaster-strips 4. At any suitable point, for instance near the china tin foil patch .5

is secured to the side ofthe carrier remotest fromthe face of thepatient and is in good electrical connection with .themetal foil lining3, and serves for connecting the latter to the supply wire 6. 1

The improved electrode is used for diathermic treatment in thefollowingmanner:

ToIthe .part of the body to'be treated is first applied a specialointment; then the electrode 1S brought into position' and fixedbyduring treatment. The source of electricity is con- 'nected on the onehand to the lining 3 of the electrode and on the other hand to a metal Ipart not shown brought into intimate contact part of the body of thepawith a suitable tient. The circuit is then closed and the currentintensity is gradually increased. If the patient feels a prickingeven ata com- ;paratively low intensity of current then the electrodedoesnotfit nicely at all points.

This is remedied by slightly lifting themetal foil ofi' the carrier andinserting be tween the two a filler or, backing of wad or a similaryielding substance as shown in Fig.

2 at 7. If no pricking is felt the current in tensity is increased tothe maximum value determined for each individualcase. Owing to thestrong carrier the improved electrode is sufiiciently firinto be usedover and over again after it has beenv made tonicely the face of thepatient to be treated.

Theiprocess. of making an electrode in accordance with'my' inventlonwill now be described. j First of all three strips of a suitable fabric,preferably starched gauze in common use-for surgical purposes are used,

.each about 6 centimetres in width andeach comprising a suitable numberof layers, say 9to12.

-Thefirst strip 10 Figs 3 and 4 extends from one ear across the foreheadto the other ear and will be called hereinafter the fore head strip. Thesecond strip 15 Figso and llO I Fig.

neighbourhood of the eyebrows and the hairs on the temple and't'he'hairy parts of the head are covered by a suitable cap,

shawl or the like. The patient is'seated on a chair having a headsupport and has his or her head inclined backwards. The three strips arethen brought into position on the patients face in succession.Preferably the nosestrip 15 is the first and is so placed that itextends from ear to ear across the nose, an assistant holding the endsof the strip in the proper position. In order that i the strip may be inuniform contact with the face an oblique cut 16' and another cut 17 atright angles to the cut 16' is made in the strip on either side of andnear the middle of th'e strip and the flaps 18 resulting therefrom arefolded outwards along the dotted line 19 on the nose. Thereby the innereye corners are left uncovered and at the same time the part of thestrip covering the upper I part of the nose is strengthened and a strongprojection extending to the forehead is formed which is required forforming a reliable connection with the forehead strip. Similarly byfolding down the triangular flap 20 along the dotted line 21 the lowereye lid which was covered by the strip is uncovered. Besides" at thelower edge of the strip on bothsides' of the wings of the 'nosethe twocuts 22 are provided and the be modeled.

curvature of the j to be provided inthe lbwer'edge of the strip.

carrier, for instance near the chin portion of the same apatch 5 of tinfoilis. secured assistant. strip 1'0 takes place in flaps 23, 24 thusformed are'fold'ed outwards for permitting the wings of the nose toWhile the two ends of the strip arehel'd 'nea-r the ears by theassistant, by applying a layer ofa thickpaste of plaster of Paris andbyrubbing and kneading the various parts of the strip are caused to nicelyfit the configuration in the proximity of the nose. This-modeling iscontinued until the strip has set to such as extent as to retainunaltered the shape into which it hasbeeir brought. Now the foreheadstrip 10 is placed acrossthe forehead from one ear to'the other. Foraccommodating" the forehead cuts 1 1, 1-2 have As shown in Fig. 8 the"ends of" the nose strip 15 and the forehead strip 10 are placed theoneabove the; other near the ears and may be readily held in position bythe The modeling of the forehead the same way" as the far that while thestrips" modeling of the nose strip a layer of a thick between the nosestrip 15 and the forehead Thencthe projection of the nose strip 10 issecured, and this connection may i be 'strengthen'e'd if desired, by apiece of gauze dipped into apaste of plaster of Paris. hen the foreheadstrip has suflicien-tly hardened under continuous rubbing and kneading,the chin strip25 Fig. 7 is brought into the position shown in Fig. 8 sothat it extends from one ear to the other and may be held by theassistant. The chin strip is modeled to nicely fit the lower part of theface. The mouth is left uncovered, but if desired the upper lip may becovered by a small strip 8 of gauze dipped intopaste of plaster of Parisand'seeur'e'd to the nose strip. For firmly connecting the three str swhich up to this moment had been belt in position by the assistant astrip of .starched gauze moistened in hot water is wound from onetempleacross the chin to the other temple and back again, a thick pasteof plaster of P'arisbeing interposed between the successivelayersofstrips and strei'igthening the same. Similarly the strip iswound across the forehead for sufiicientlystrengthening this part too.lWherever two strips crossfieach other it is important to establish afirm connection between them. The electrode carrier which resembles amask is then permitted to dry on the face of the patient, which requiresabout 20' to 25 minutes, whereupon the carrier is removed and finallydried for instance on a heated metal plate.

To the inside of the completely dried carrier an electrically conductivelining is applied which may consist of tin foil cemented thereto, or theelectrical-1y conductive lining maybe applied by electrode-position orby atoinizing a fused metal or alloy. In any case the lining 3 must beapplied with the greatest nicety any projecting points or folds and anyholes being carefully avoided as they might result in. injury to theskin.

Irregularities in applying. tin foil may be and electrically connectedto the lining and to the source. of electricity.

What I claim isz 1. In an electrode to be applied to the folded down onthe outside of human face the combination of an electricallynon-conductive carrier consisting of a forehead strip a nose strip andachin strip closely fitting the face and an electrically conductivelining on the side of such carrier next to the said part of the body andmeans for electrically connecting such lining with a source of electriccurrent.

2. In a electrode to be applied to the human face the combination of anelectrically non-conductive carrier'consisting of a forehead strip anose strip and a chin strip closely fitting the face and'such stripsbeing provided with cuts at the edges for permitting them to be curved,an electrically conductive lining on the side of such carrier next tothe said part of the body and means for electrically connecting suchlining with a source of electric current.

3. A process for making electrodes to be applied to the human bodyconsisting in modeling a plurality of strips of fabric strips are in aplastic state, to the part of the human bod to be treated, connectingsuch strips by similar strips and permitting the Whole to set While theyare on the part of the body to be treated, removing the structure builtup of stripsifrom the part of the body, completely drying such structureand applying to one side of such structure an electrically conductivelining. I

' In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

DR ERWIN LAST.

soaked with a setting material While such

